HKiNEDA Survey Reveals INEDs' Confidence in Hong Kong's Dual-Listing Surge and Digital Frontier
- Calling for Embedded AI Safeguards
HONG KONG, January 13, 2026 - (ACN Newswire) – The Hong Kong Independent Non-Executive Director Association (“HKiNEDA”) has released results from its 2025 Survey Questionnaire, polling 167 INEDs, advisors, and executives on the evolving landscape of corporate governance in dual listings, digital assets, Web3, and AI risks. Conducted ahead of the HKiNEDA Annual Conference 2025 —“Opportunities and Challenges for Independent Non-Executive Directors (“INEDs”) in Dual Listing Wave, Digital Asset Era, Web 3 & AI-Driven Risk” — the survey highlights the critical role of independent directors in driving Hong Kong's competitiveness as an international financial hub, emphasizing innovation, compliance, and risk mitigation.
Survey participants, blending INEDs, senior management, and professional advisors, are immersed in financial services alongside burgeoning tech and real estate sectors, with significant involvement in smaller and private firms that fuel market vitality. This cross-section reveals a governance network that's collaborative and expansive, empowering emerging companies to thrive in a competitive landscape.
Dual listings stand out as a powerful accelerator for Hong Kong's capital markets, with respondents viewing them as a dynamic force that broadens global investor access, infuses fresh liquidity, and weaves the city more tightly into international financial networks — particularly through innovations like the Fast-Track for mainland enterprises, which expedite cross-border integrations. Here, INEDs play a linchpin role, leveraging their expertise to harmonize disparate listing regimes, monitor compliance across jurisdictions, and mitigate associated risks such as valuation discrepancies or geopolitical exposures, thereby propelling Hong Kong's evolution into a truly borderless hub that rivals global peers.
In the digital asset arena, INEDs are hailed as architects of forward momentum, anticipating tokenization of real-world assets and stablecoins to revolutionize liquidity and accessibility, while championing government initiatives like regulatory frameworks and talent ecosystems as essential to securing Hong Kong's Web3 leadership. Their oversight ensures these innovations align with robust safeguards against money laundering and market volatility, blending opportunity with prudence to nurture an ecosystem where technological leaps enhance, rather than erode, investor trust.
Yet, the survey's sharpest lens falls on AI-driven risks, where INEDs' role in enhancing corporate governance shines brightest: as resident experts, they empower boards to embed AI literacy through targeted upskilling, integrate ethical frameworks into core operations, and vigilantly track issues like algorithmic bias or data breaches within enterprise-wide risk systems. This holistic approach —prioritizing seamless mitigation over fragmented responses — positions INEDs as the ethical compass for AI adoption, fortifying boards against disruptions while unlocking innovation's full promise, ensuring Hong Kong firms lead with transparency and foresight.
“From dual-listing bridges to digital leaps and AI safeguards, INEDs are Hong Kong's governance guardians,” said Mr Vincent Pang, Vice Chairman of Business Valuation Research and Survey Subcommittee of HKiNEDA. “This survey rallies us to harness these insights for enduring market strength.”
Mr Rex Yeung, President of HKiNEDA (left) with Mr Vincent Pang, Vice Chairman of Business Valuation Research and Survey Subcommittee of HKiNEDA
About The Hong Kong Independent Non-Executive Director Association
The Hong Kong Independent Non-Executive Director Association (HKiNEDA) is the non-profit organization representing independent non-executive directors in Greater China. Based in Hong Kong, the association connects independent non-executive directors across the two straits and three places, contributing to the financial capital markets in Greater China.
The mission of the association is to assist in the professional development of independent non-executive directors, promote healthy and excellent corporate governance in listed companies, and foster the sustainable development of capital markets in Greater China. The association helps independent non-executive directors understand their responsibilities in listed companies, encourages them to play their roles and realize their value, and supports independent non-executive directors in monitoring and fulfilling their responsibilities to the company with an attitude of independence, integrity, and fairness.
